Waste

The textile waste crisis calls for a well-coordinated multilevel approach between exporting and importing countries, and a mix of measures that engage all authorities and stakeholders concerned with local environmental and social issues, says a new report.

Indonesia is looking to reverse the environmental impact of textile waste, introduce the potential of circular textiles, create green jobs, and organise training programmes.

The last piece in this five-part series on the twin subjects of the second-hand clothing in Africa and that of post-consumer textile waste in the content emphasises that the two are, of course, related, but not in the way that Western activists would like us to believe.

It is not just an irony, but an outright travesty that this needs to be emphasised: the second-hand clothing sector does indeed generate jobs in a region where millions live below the International Poverty Line of $2.15 a day. A study that looked at SHC in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia explored a facet that anti-waste activists unfortunately choose to ignore.

The Uganda Circular Textile project is designed to support a transition to a local textile manufacturing base by incorporating clothes that would otherwise end up in landfills into new products and design. Leading the project, which kicked off earlier this year, is WasteAid. Director of Programmes, Michelle Wilson, explains what it takes to navigate the second-hand clothing landscape in the country.

Less than a month ago, the Ghana Used Clothing Dealers Association (GUCDA) released a report which contended that media reports of waste were gross over-estimates. These reports and also the campaigns are being driven by flawed data, argues GUCDA General Secretary Edward Atobrah Binkley in this riveting interview with texfash.

One of the many African countries that has been repeatedly mentioned in the swathe of Western media reports about the impact of the second-hand clothing trade is Kenya. But the sector is huge in the country in its spread, and mitumba touches the lives of millions. Yet, the opinion of the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya (MCAK) has largely gone unheard. The Chairperson of the MCAK, Teresia Wairimu Njenga, tells texfash that much of what abounds is misinformation.

There's fashion that generates waste, and then there's fashion's packaging that generates more. Even as the industry is being hauled over coals, the subject of packaging, though discussed, remains by the sidelines. Iva Jestratijevic, Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Consumer Insights and Innovation, University of North Texas, throws light on trends.

There is significant room for improvement in separate collection systems for waste textiles in EU-27 with about 11.6kg per person of textile waste ending up in mixed household waste.

Media reports on the amount of textile waste being imported into African countries is much lower than the estimated 40% or more with less than 5% of the imports to Ghana could be considered waste.